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Content marketing is becoming an increasingly important part of brands' overall marketing mix, but many leaders are still unclear about what works and what doesn't.

When educating clients on the benefits of content marketing, agencyexecutives should be prepared to devise a strategy that ensures a maximum return on this investment. How often to publish, what channels to use, and how to measure its effectiveness should all be planned out carefully to avoid creating content for content's sake.

Below, eight agencyexecutives from Forbes Agency Council share what components should always be included in a fruitful content marketing campaign.

Content effectiveness is decreasing and companies still aren't documenting their strategy — it's funny what having a content blueprint will do for your long-term goals. Plan out your goals, your audience, and how your content will help educate them and write it down so your entire team is on the same page. – Kelsey Meyer,Influence & Co.

2. The Delivery Method

Find a way to consistently deliver fresh, unique content via articles or newsletters that demonstrate the company's thought leadership. The key is for customers and prospects to begin to recognize that you provide valuable insight and are not just focused on trying to sell them. Try delivering novel content via a blog, promote it socially and start regular email conversations about the content. – Jenna Gross, Moving Targets

3. Measurement

First, figure out how you're going to know whether your content marketing efforts were successful or not. You can waste a lot of time throwing spaghetti at the wall before you figure out what works and what doesn't. Are you looking for website traffic? Leads? A bigger email database? Once you know what success looks like, you can work back from there. – Joel Kelly, VERB Interactive

4. The "Why"

It's important for brands to start by asking themselves "why" before outlining their content and their plan for distribution. Spend time developing a strategy and reporting metrics, and identifying and researching the intended
target audience. From there, the most appropriate tactics and channels will become evident. – Mike Kapetanovic, LMO Advertising

5. Your Target Audience

Ask yourself: how will the content you produce help your target audience? Start there and then figure out how you will leverage your content programs to accomplish your goals. – Rob Levin, RSL Media

Facebook Advertising is an ingenious way of testing different messages across different audiences and validating their resonance -- all without it being associated permanently with your online presences. Modest budgets can create great data from ad views to landing pages to conversions. – Trevor Sumner, LocalVox

7. Your Messaging System

Before jumping into any social platform, spend time putting your messaging system in place. This system will include audiencecharacteristics, hierarchy of messages and themes, style and brand guidelines, and brand voice and personality. Once you've identified these, the social interaction, --regardless of platform -- will be guided by this system and brand continuity and messaging will follow. – Andrew Howlett, Rain

8. Facebook

I think 2015 made it clear that Facebook is still white hot for marketers. And younger millennials have returned to the channel too. The focus should be on creating a compelling page and supporting it with their very simple advertising options. It's an easy win. Once you've mastered Facebook, you can explore other channels. – Tina Wells, Buzz Marketing Group

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Find out if you qualify at forbesagencycouncil.com/qualify.